Several processes in semiconductor manufacturing involve processing wafers at high temperatures. In a typical such process, the process chamber is brought to an elevated temperature; subsequently certain process gases are introduced into the chamber to create desired process conditions.
Both equipment manufacturers and chip-makers are continuously striving to improve overall equipment effectiveness (OEE) and to reduce scrap, to increase equipment uptime, and to reduce the use of costly and time-consuming test wafers. The focus is now shifting to determining the “health” of the equipment on an on-going basis to detect “emerging” fault conditions as well.
The need to determine the health of a system can be extended to Thermal Processing Systems. In TPS equipment, there is a need to detect, diagnose, and predict error conditions.